The Things I Do For Family
by Tortured Artist
Summary: After years of separation, Courage finally gets the opportunity to find his long lost parents. Courage volunteers to risk his life to go into outer space and search for his parents, but will he find them or will he find something else?
1. Chapter 1

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 1

In a grassy front yard surrounded by a metal fence, a small pink puppy wearing an over sized diaper was playing with his parents. The little puppy was a little awkward playing with the over sized beach ball but he none the less rolled the ball back to his father. The pup's father threw the ball back too hard, striking the poor pup, throwing him through the air, and into the fence. When the puppy tried to pull himself free, he realized that his head was stuck in the fence. Realizing that he was stuck, he began to cry loudly. The puppy's parents came over to help their son but they couldn't budge the pup from the bars.

"What are we going to do?" asked the father.

"I already have an appointment with the vet today." said the mother. "We could bring him along and the vet will know what to do."

Courage awoken from his dream with a cold sweat pouring down his face. He was sleeping on Eustace and Muriel's bed but fortunately, he didn't wake them up by screaming like he usually does when he was having a dream. Courage got out of bed and walked over to the window to see the rising sun in the distance. He stared at that sun and thought about his long lost parents. Even to this day, Courage is haunted by the memory of losing his parents. Even though he was just a baby, he remembered, in great detail, how his parents were dognapped by that evil veterinarian and then launched into space. When they were gone, Courage was left all alone but luckily, Courage was found by Muriel that same day. When Courage was a pup living with Muriel, Courage would often sit at the window everyday, hoping that his parents will return to him. Eventually he stopped that but he still hoped that one day he will see his parents again and that hope has followed him even to his adulthood.

Henry and Lily. Those were the names of Courage's parents and those were names that Courage didn't want to forget. Henry and Lily loved Courage dearly and even though Courage was rather shy and clumsy for a pup, they stuck by him all the way. Courage's father, Henry, was a kind hearted and generous father who was everything a father should be: a teacher and a wonderful gentlemen. Lily was as timid as Courage but she loved her son in every way. She was sweet and gentle and supportive of Courage. Both Lily and Henry were pure bred pink lemdens so they had a strong resemblance to Courage, as do all pure bred pink lemdens do. Although they didn't look like all the other dogs because of their pink fur, they were still a well respected family amongst the community.

Courage never dreamed that he would one day be separated from his parents. When he was a puppy, he always believed that he would be with his parents forever but then, as fate would have it, Courage got his head stuck in that fence causing his parents to take Courage to the only veterinarian, at the time, in Nowhere. The veterinarian's name was doctor Leonard Quincy Stromwell the second. He was a wicked man who had some strange obsession with sending dogs into outer space for his inhuman science experiments. He kidnapped his parents and sent them into outer space. It was because of him that Courage no longer has his parents. A year and a half ago, Courage had met that same veterinarian again and he tried to launch Courage into outer space but instead, Courage launched the veterinarian into outer space. Although it gave Courage justice to have been able to send that veterinarian to the same fate he condemned his parents to, it did little to relieve the pain he felt for his loss. Courage tried to get over the loss of his parents but the accursed dreams and memories still haunt him to no end. But little did Courage know that the opportunity he was looking for in finding his family was within his grasp.

It all started one fine afternoon when the Bagge family was sitting in their living room watching television. Without warning, there was a phone call. Eustace irritably picked up the phone and said into it, "We don't got a phone."

"Eustace." said Muriel and grabbed the phone out of Eustace's hand.

"Hello, who is this?" asked Muriel into the phone. Courage, who was on Muriel's lap, could hear the conversation with his sensitive dog ears.

"Is this Mr. or Mrs. Bagge?" asked the man on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, this is Mrs. Bagge speaking." said Muriel into the phone.

"This is the Nowhere police and I would like for you and your husband to come over to the following address for questioning." said the man on the phone.

"Are we being arrested?" asked Muriel.

"Oh no, you and your husband is not in trouble." said the man on the phone. "We believe that you and your husband may know something that we are going to need. Can you come over so we can question you?"

"Why certainly." said Muriel. The man over the phone gave Muriel an address which Muriel wrote down on a piece of paper. Muriel hung up the phone and said, "Eustace, that was the police. They want us to go over to this address so they can ask us a few questions." Eustace grumbled in anger knowing that it would mean that he would have to leave his chair. As Courage got out of Muriel's lap so she could stand up, Courage began to worry. He wondered what could the police want from them.

In Eustace's truck, Eustace, Muriel, and Courage drove over to the building with the address given to Muriel. Once they finally reached the building, Courage gasped in horror as he realized that he was at the building where Dr. Stromwell used to work. The same brick building where Courage had lost his parents. The building remained unchanged, even after all this time in dissolution but what was new was that outside of the building, it was surrounded by police cars. Muriel and Eustace walked into the building with Courage following nervously behind. Upon entering the building, they were confronted by a short police officer with a broad chest, red mustache, and a night stick.

"Hold it, this building is part of police investigation." said the police officer. "No pedestrians aloud."

"But we were summoned here." said Muriel.

"Really?" said the officer. "Are your names Muriel and Eustace Bagge?"

"Yes, that's us." said Muriel.

"Well then forgive me for the misunderstanding." said the officer. "If you two will please follow me." The officer led the family through the halls of the building giving Courage a rather uneasiness having to set foot in this same building again.

The officer led them through the plain white hallways of the vet and into the same room where Dr. Stromwell kept his test rockets.

"First off, I would like to explain to you about what we are doing here." said the officer. "For the past decade, we have always suspected that Dr. Leonard Stromwell was using illegal experiments to send dogs into outer space. There had been a number of cases where dogs had mysteriously disappeared around Stromwell but we didn't have enough evidence to enable us to get a warrant to search the building. But after Dr. Stromwell's mysterious disappearance, we finally got the evidence we needed when a news helicopter discovered a trap door on the roof of this building. An indication that a rocket might be held there. With this new information, we managed to obtain a warrant and we searched the building and found all the proof we need to lock up Dr. Stromwell. But what we don't know for sure is what was he up to. We checked all of his records and discovered that you two were his last customers and thus we called you over because we suspected that you may have some information for us."

"Indeed we do." said Muriel. "About a year in a half ago, we brought our dog over to Dr. Stromwell for a check up and we saw him try and send Courage to outer space."

"Well that's interesting." said the officer. "Why don't you and your husband follow me into the next room and we can talk about it."

The officer led Muriel and Eustace into a nearby room. Courage was about to follow when he noticed a blond haired police officer working on a nearby computer. Courage was curious as to what the officer was doing so Courage walked over to him in order to find out. Courage looked over the officer's shoulder and noticed a long list of files and open windows on the computer screen.

"This will take me all day to read." said the officer in frustration. "I'm going to have to download all this on a disk or something." The officer stood up, easily dwarfing Courage like a giant. The tall man walked out of the room, probably out to find someone to help him with the computer. As the man left, Courage examined the notes and files throughout the computer. It was then that Courage noticed what appeared to be an AppleWorks file entitled "Rocket Travel Map." Courage knew that what he was doing was wrong but his curiosity got the better of him and he had to read the file. He sat into the chair and opened the file. What opened was a map of outer space. A note written on the side of the map said that the map shows the rocket's path from Earth all the way to an alien planet and like a treasure map, it had a single path and some easy to follow intrusions on how to get to the planet.

"Could this planet be the one where my parents and the other dogs were sent?" thought Courage. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity like this, Courage turned on the printer and then instructed the computer to print a copy of the map. There was a buzzing sound from the printer as a print out of the map came out. Suddenly, Courage's sensitive ears picked up the sound of foot steps heading his way. Courage quickly closed AppleWorks and then grabbed the map out of the printer before the two police officers came in. While the officers were not looking, Courage folded the map and hid it behind his back. A few minutes afterwards, Muriel and Eustace came out of the next room with the officer they spoke to earlier.

"Thank you for your cooperation." said the officer.

"It's no problem." said Muriel. "Come on, Courage, we're going home."

"And hurry up, you stupid dog, I'm missing my favorite show." said Eustace to Courage. Courage follow his owners out of the building, holding the folded up map in his paws.

Through out the day, Courage's mind was on the map he had printed out. He put the map next to his computer and even though Courage didn't look at it again, he still thought about it like a constant nagging sensation. That night, he tried to fall asleep in the cot in the basement but his thoughts still dwindled on the map. Figuring that he wont fall asleep, he got out of bed, turned on a light and unfolded the map. As Courage studied the map, the possibility that he could find his parents grew within him. The map was fairly easy to understand and Courage had a way of going to the planet. Some time ago, Courage encountered these walking talking teddy bears who were after a large space worm. The worm in question had eaten the teddy bears and Muriel so Courage had to fly the teddy bears' space ship (with the worm) back to a strange space girl named Tulip in order to save Muriel. Then Courage flew back to Earth on the same space ship he had used. (See the episode entitled "Tulip's Worm" for full details) Courage still had the space ship and he hid the ship in a small ravine, hidden from the view of on-lookers. Was it possible for Courage to use the ship again to save his parents? But what about Muriel? Would she still be safe while Courage was gone? And what if Courage some how can't get back home? So many questions, thoughts, and doubts plagued Courage's mind as the possibilities were rolling through his mind. Finally growing tired from all the thinking, he placed the map back on the desk and curled up into bed.

As he slept soundly, he had another nightmare about the fateful day of his parents' disappearance. But unlike the ones before that, this dream seemed real, as if he was watching through a television set. In his dream, Courage saw himself as a puppy as he was being cut free from the bars of the fence while inside Dr. Stromwell's examining room. Once Dr. Stromwell him was free, the veterinarian gave Courage a lolly pop which he licked with joy. As Courage was licking the over sized lolly pop, Dr. Stromwell led Lily and Henry into the next room but why, he did not say. The dream continued to show what happened next. Courage was forced to relive that day as Courage saw Dr. Stromwell carry Lily and Henry towards the rocket ship. In the dream, just like in real life, Courage tried to save his family but he ended up shoved down a garbage shoot and had failed his family.

Courage woke up from his dream with a horrible scream but luckily, he was in the attic so it didn't wake up Muriel. Courage began to cry as the memory of how he failed his parents came to him. As tears still ran down his muzzle, he walked over to the only window in the attic and opened it up so he could see the stars in the sky. Because of the lack of lights in Nowhere, there was always a sky full of stars at night. The sight was beautiful to behold but it made Courage think about his family more.

"Why couldn't I have saved them?" thought Courage. "I've saved Muriel dozens of times, why couldn't I have saved my own parents?" Courage turned his head towards the clock on the wall and realized that it was five in the morning. As Courage scanned the area, he noticed the map lying on the desk. As Courage looked at the map, a determination like nothing he had ever felt before ran through his body. It was then that he vowed that he would not fail his parents again.

"Don't worry, mom and dad." said Courage to the heavens above. "I'm coming to rescue you."

_Author's Note: For more information on "Pink Lemdons," see my fanfic entitled "Million Dollar Courage." And incase you are wondering, the name "Stromwell" did come from the "Courage and the Hendersons" series._


	2. Chapter 2

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 2

Courage quietly searched the house for supplies, making sure that he didn't wake up Eustace and Muriel. Using a large back pack he had found, he began to pack up on supplies for the trip. First, he filled his back pack with food because he knew that he would be gone for days or weeks. In addition to the food, he packed a few bottles filled with water, a flash light, a pocket knife, matches, his winter coat (incase it was cold on the planet), a shovel, a hatchet, binoculars, a sleeping bag, and a magnifying glass. As Courage was stuffing all these supplies in his back pack, a thought occurred to him. Since he had no idea of what dangers the planet had, he may need to bring something for his self defense but Muriel and Eustace didn't own any guns or weapons. The best weapon in the house was Eustace's mallet but Courage decided not to take the mallet because he would rather face a brain sucking alien with his bare fists then face Eustace mad at him for taking his mallet. So the only other weapon that Courage could use was an old baseball bat that hadn't been used for a long time. It was hidden in one of the old boxes up in the attic and Courage had to dig through all them in order to find the bat. Moving all those boxes caused dust to kick up into the air causing Courage to cough and sneeze and the dust also made his eyes itch. After some exhausting work digging through the old boxes, Courage finally found the bat he was looking for. He quickly stuffed the bat into the back pack and then Courage dragged the back pack into the kitchen.

It was then that Courage's stomach began to growl with hunger. Deciding to eat breakfast before leaving, Courage pulled out some leftover ham from the refrigerator, chopped it into pieces, and began to cook the ham in the microwave. Once cooked, Courage placed the ham on the table and began to eat. Although Courage was hungry, he wasn't much in the mood for eating because his mind was still on the possibility that he may actually see his parents again. Questions constantly bombarded Courage's mind as he thought about it.

"Will I be able to find my parents? Will they still be the same way as I remember them? Will they recognize me? What can I say to them?" These constant questions made it hard for Courage to finish his breakfast but he knew that these questions will not be answered unless he went out to search for them. He gobbled up his ham quickly and was about to leave when he realized that Muriel would be worried about him if he didn't explain why he had left. Courage quickly pulled out a sticky pad and wrote a note on the pad with a pen. Once Courage had finished writing the note, he proof read the note to himself. The note read:

_Dear Muriel,_

_I'm going on a little vacation by myself and will be back by the end of the week at the least. I've already left this morning so I should be back as soon as I can._

_Love Courage_

Courage wondered to himself if he should put in more details but decided to stick with what he got. He tore the piece of paper off of the sticky pad and placed it onto the refrigerator where Muriel can see it. Courage than hoisted the back pack onto his shoulders and walked out the door.

The back pack was rather heavy but Courage has always been gifted with extraordinary strength despite his size. It was about seven in the morning and the sun was already rising in the distance causing the starry night sky to slowly fade away. Courage wanted to hurry and get to the ship because it can get hot in Nowhere during the day and he didn't want to drag this heavy back pack under the hot sun. Courage walked a mile through the desert like terrain of Nowhere until he finally came to the ravine where Courage had stashed the ship. As Courage got closer to the ravine, he looked down below and could see the ship hidden underneath the trees. Courage carefully climbed down the side of the ravine towards the ship below. It was hard to climb down while wearing that heavy back pack but Courage managed to reach the bottom of the ravine safely. Upon reaching the ground below, Courage could now easily see the alien ship that has been hidden here for over a year. The space ship was silver in color and looked like a giant hub cap, just the way Courage had remembered. As Courage walk over to the ship, he located the button that opened the door and pressed it. The door opened up and lowered itself like a platform so Courage could board the ship.

Once Courage was inside, he was greeted by the familiar sight of the ship's interior which seemed to come to life with activity upon Courage's arrival. The entire interior of the ship was a simple one room ship. It was circular in shape and it was devoid of any comforts such as chairs or beds. Courage placed his back pack next to the door and then pushed a button that closed the door shut. Once Courage was sure the door was shut, he pulled out the map from his back pack. He then walked over to the controls to the ship which was, ironically, one of those indoor bike like contraptions meant for exercise. Strangely enough, the ship works in the same way a bike does and although it is different than a real bike, its similarities enabled Courage to quickly learn how to ride it.

Courage picked up a helmet that was hanging from the left handle bar of the bike and then secured it on top of his head. Courage then got into the seat and placed his feet upon the pedals. On the handle bars was a control panel and from the panel, Courage located the "On" switch and pressed it. Immediately, the ship roared to life as the engines kicked on. Courage could feel the ship vibrating as the ship began to activate. Courage took in a shaky breath as he began to push the pedals to accelerate the ship. He then pulled back on the handle bars like he would on an air plane and the ship took off into the air. As the ship hovered off the ground, Courage gently steered the ship into the air and strait up into the sky. There were no windows on the ship so Courage's only way of seeing outside was through a viewing screen, like the one seen in Star Trek. Through the viewing screen, Courage could see the clouds fly by as the ship continued to soar into the heavens above. The blue sky quickly changed from blue to black and starry as Courage left the Earth's atmosphere.

Courage continued to pedal the bike-like contraption harder and harder enabling the ship to pick up speed. Once Courage was past the moon, he pulled out the map and then placed it upon the control panel. The map said to first head towards Jupiter, so Courage continued to pump the pedals and fly towards Jupiter. Once he reached Jupiter, the map instructed Courage to make a hard right turn and go strait until he reached the star, Megrez. The map was more complicated than the instructions Courage had received in order to go to Tulip's home world. Also, the planet was farther away than the other world so the trip was longer than expected. After pedaling nonstop for over nine hours (with breaks only for meals and bathroom emergencies), Courage's legs was starting to grow stiff and sore. At around four o'clock, Courage couldn't take it anymore and decided to park the ship then take a break for the rest of the day.

Sweating and panting, Courage worked all the strength he had to direct the ship towards a nearby comet. There, Courage parked the ship onto the comet so the ship wouldn't float aimlessly into space. Courage then took off his bike helmet and placed it onto the handle bars. He grabbed the map and with his stiff legs, Courage walked over to the door where Courage had left his back pack. Courage sat down and examined his map and he was pleased that all of his efforts weren't for nothing because according to the map, Courage was only 70% the way there. He was getting closer to the planet now and it wouldn't be long before Courage would finally get the chance at finding his parents. Courage lay against the wall of the space ship, day dreaming of those times when Courage still had his parents. He remembered how much his parents spent time with him and how much they loved him. A smile crossed Courage's face as he remembered what happened before his head was stuck in the fence:

Flashback Begins.

Courage's thoughts traveled back to a time when he still had his parents. He was just a small puppy and he was in the front yard with his mother, Lily. Courage laid on a small beach blanket as Lily changed his diaper but Courage was not cooperating.

"You're certainly quiet a squirmer." said Lily as she tried to place the diaper onto the squirming puppy. Lily finally managed to get the diaper onto Courage and from the moment Courage was freed, Courage wondered off looking for other things to do. At this point, Courage was already at the stage of his life were he was learning how to walk and talk. Ever since Courage took his first steps, he's been running around a lot, even though he still trips some times. Courage's aimless running games ceased when he heard Henry walk out of the house and upon seeing his father, Courage waddled over to Henry. Henry noticed Courage approaching him and coached Courage to come to him.

"Come on, come to daddy." said Henry encouragingly as he held out his arms. Courage was about to reach Henry's outstretched arms but Courage tripped and fell over. Luckily, Henry was close enough to catch him. Henry picked up his son and Courage just nuzzled him saying, "Daddy."

"Aw, isn't that sweet." said Henry. At that moment, Lily came over to Courage and said, "Aw, he learned a new word." Lily stroked Courage's cheek with her paw and said to Courage, "Can you say 'mommy."

"Ma...ma...mommy." said Courage struggling with the word. Lily's heart just melted like butter with joy.

"You said 'mommy." said Lily to Courage. "We're so proud of our little boy." Courage then unexpectedly grabbed Lily's hat off her head and placed it on his own. The hat was too big for him so it covered his entire face.

"Hat." said Courage. Lily and Henry laughed at their son's antics. He was just so cute.

Flashback Ends.

Courage's daydream had ended when he heard his stomach growl. Courage was quiet famished from all that pedaling and Courage had to eat something. Courage reached into his back pack and pulled out a can of dog food. Courage then pulled out a can opener and began to open the can. Once the can was opened, Courage pulled out a spoon from his back pack and he ate directly from the can. As he ate, he thought more about his life before he was separated from his family and the more he thought about them, the more guilt ridden Courage became. Along with his sadness, Courage couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened to his family. If he hadn't have had his head stuck in that fence, his parents wouldn't have taken him to the vet. Not just that, but he also had a chance to save them, and yet he failed. He failed his own parents right when they needed him the most and because of that, they were gone. Courage was beginning to lose his appetite but he ate anyway, knowing that he needed his strength. Courage continued to tell himself to not give up. No matter the risks, Courage had to keep going. He had to try...for his family.

Courage spent a few hours, after eating, continuously daydreaming about his parents until it was time for him to go to bed. He pulled out the sleeping bag he had and laid it out on the ship's floor. He curled into bed and fell asleep but like the night before, he once again dreamed about the day he lost his parents and like before, this one felt so real that Courage actually felt like he was there. Once the dream ended, Courage, once again, woke up with a horrible scream. Courage breathed deeply a few times before his heart stopped racing.

"Why are these dreams torturing me like this?" thought Courage to himself. "Why do they seem so real?" Courage shrugged off the bad dream and crawled out of his sleeping bag.

After a good breakfast, he got back into the driver's seat and continued his journey. Courage's legs were still a little stiff from yesterday but Courage continued none the less. Driven by his desire to see his parents again, Courage pressed on, following the directions on the map, Courage flew light-years into space until he finally saw his first glimpse of a planet. Checking and re-checking his coordinates, he realize that he had finally made it to the planet he was looking for.

"Mom and dad, here I come." said Courage with enthusiasm as he continued to pump the pedals.

Courage was rapidly getting closer to the planet enabling Courage to receive a better view of the planet through the viewing screen. The planet was green in color and it had several blue spots which Courage figured was water but he wasn't sure if the green was planet life or something else. Courage was just within the planet's atmosphere when something happened. Without warning, the engines died and the ship was barely hovering in the air.

"What's happening?" said Courage in a panic. There was a violent thrust as the ship began to descend. Drawn by the gravitational pull of the planet, the ship fell like a rock towards the ground below. The thrust caused the map on the control panel to fall off and Courage realized why he was falling upon seeing the control panel. Courage had over looked one detail when he was packing up: he forgot about the fuel intake of the ship. Apparently, the trip had used up what remaining fuel the ship had and Courage discovered this too late when he saw the fuel gage which read "empty." The ship began to fall towards the ground like a rock and all Courage could do was watch as the ground began to rush up to meet the ship.


	3. Chapter 3

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 3

Courage screamed in horror as he watched the ship come tumbling down to the ground below. Courage tried his best to com himself so he could find a solution to his dilemma. Courage quickly searched through the panel hoping to find some kind of emergency switch or something. As Courage frantically examined the panel, he noticed a switch labeled "Emergency Parachutes." Courage pressed the button and suddenly, five secret doors on the top of the ship opened up and five large parachutes came out. However, as fate would have it, the teddy bears who had owned the ship originally had not placed in two of the parachute properly so two of the five parachutes did not open. The ship's descent did slow down, however, but Courage was still traveling too fast for comfort and Courage only had mere seconds before he hits the ground. Out of survival instinct, Courage clutched the handle bars as if his life depended on it. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. The ship crashed front first into the ground, hurling Courage out of his seat. What happened next? Courage couldn't remember, only that the world suddenly went black as he lost consciousness.

Courage awoke with a splitting headache and some muscle pain.

"Ugg, my head." moaned Courage in agony as he sat up. As he observed his surroundings, he realized that the viewing screen was smashed and judging by the dent on the screen, covered in spider web patterned cracks, Courage realized that he crashed head first (literally) into the viewing screen.

"Good thing I was wearing this helmet." thought Courage as he removed the bicycle helmet off his head. Courage checked himself for injuries but found only a few minor cuts and bruises. Courage was amazed that he could survive a crash like that and sustain so few injuries but Courage has sustained major damage in the past with few injuries and Courage has always shown that he was a fast healer. Believing that he'll be fine, Courage walked over to his back pack which was flung to the front of the ship when the ship hit the ground. Courage checked the contents to make sure it was alright. Satisfied that nothing inside was broken, Courage walked over to the door. The lighting in the ship was poor because the crash had broken a few over head lights and shut off some of the power. Courage managed to locate the door in the dim light and pushed the button. The door opened and Courage stepped out into the alien environment.

The entire planet seemed very quiet and deserted at first glance. The planet was certainly alien since the soil was lime green but it looked and felt like the dry ground in Nowhere. The trees were not numerous but those few that were capable of growing were covered in blood red bark, was bent like a bent pipe cleaner, and they had lots of leaves that were bright yellow and they were oval shaped. The sky was light green and had several white clouds hovering over head but it was beginning to grow dark as the sun in the distance began to set. Courage carefully sniffed the air in order to find out if there was any predators. Courage found none. Once satisfied that it was safe to come out, Courage stepped outside and examined the damage of the ship. The damage didn't look good because the entire front half of the ship was bent and cracked. Courage began to panic as he realized the hopelessness of the situation. The ship was severally damaged and there was obviously no way it could fly again. Even if it wasn't damaged, without anymore fuel, Courage could never fly back home. Realizing that he was now marooned on this planet, Courage began to panic. Trying his best to com down, he took in deep breaths and tried to think of some solution. Realizing that he wasn't going to gain much from standing out here, Courage went back into the ship in hopes of finding something that can help him.

He frantically searched through all the compartments and cupboards within the ship until he found a cylinder shaped object. It was about six inches tall and it had a diameter of three inches. On top of the device was a small pull-out antenna with an on switch to it. Courage rotated the device in his paws and noticed some instructions written on the side. The instructions read:

_S.O.S. Signal Beacon can emit a continuos distress signal in all directions, up to 1 million miles. This distress signal can be picked up by most ships and shouldn't be used unless it is an emergency and you lack any other way of seeking help. To activate, take the beacon outside and into the open, extend the antenna to its full length, and then activate the beacon by pressing the on switch. Leave the switch on continuously because there's always that chance that a ship could be nearby and you might miss it._

After reading the instructions, Courage carried the beacon outside. Following the instructions, Courage extended the antenna and then turned it on. The "on" switch glowed orange, an indication that it was on. Courage then carefully climbed to the top of ship and then secured the beacon to the top of the ship and hoped that a passing alien ship will find it and help him.

"Well, I certainly hope this works." said Courage. Courage sat next to the beacon and observed the surrounding terrain. The planet certainly seemed like a real waste land that was filled with a few plants but no animal life. Not even insects. Courage knew that it would take awhile before help would arrive so Courage decided to go out and search for some clues as to where his parents were. Courage climbed down the ship and went over to his back pack which still laid next to the door. Courage opened the back pack and pulled out his base ball bat, then set out to search for his family.

A shiver ran down Courage's spine as he began to feel the cold air. The planet (or at least this part of the planet) was at a much colder temperature than in Nowhere. It wasn't freezing cold but it was cold enough for Courage since he had spent his life in a warm town like Nowhere. Courage felt tempted to run back and get his winter coat but Courage figured he could adjust and he didn't want to waste too much time. He wondered off in just one direction, marking the ground in anyway available so he could find his way back. The dry ground below his feet began to become more moist and more plant life was starting to appear. He even found plants that resembled grass but they were green-blue instead of green. Courage was also seeing some small insects that resembled flies but he found no animal life, yet.

Courage's trek through this alien world led him to a large ravine that was about 12 feet deep and had a small river running through it. There was also some more trees and plant life below and more of that strange looking grass. Placing his base ball bat into his mouth, Courage climbed down the side of the ravine towards the ground below. Upon reaching the ground, Courage observed the area and noticed nothing immediately harmful. In the trees above were some pigeon sized creatures that looked like birds but they had scales on their heads and talons. Despite how quiet and peaceful the surroundings were, Courage, felt uneasy about being here, as if there was someone watching him. Courage raised his base ball bat, ready to strike at the slightest hint of danger. Remembering his quest to find his parents, Courage shrugged off his fears and walked through the plant life of the ravine, searching through all the thick trees. All the while, he had his bat raised because he still sensed danger nearby.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, an arrow flew by, missed Courage's head, and instead struck a nearby tree, startling Courage by the sudden attack. He turned around to face the attacker and noticed a dog aiming a bow and arrow at him. The dog held out the bow and arrow like a skilled archer and a quiver of arrows was strapped around her shoulder. But what was so strange about the dog was that her dog breed was a pure bred pink lemden, the same dog breed as Courage. Infact, she resembled Courage in every way but she had longer eye lashes and she had some famine features around the eyes. The two dogs stared at each other, not sure what to do next.

"Alrgiht, stranger, what are you doing here?" demanded the other dog while still holding the bow and arrow.

"I mean no trouble." said Courage.

"Oh really." said the dog sarcastically. "And how do I know you're not working for the aliens?"

"Aliens?" said Courage in surprise. "Look, Miss, I..."

"My name's not 'Miss,' it's 'Misty." said the dog.

"Okay, Misty, I swear, I am not involved with any aliens." said Courage, a little annoyed. Realizing that he's probably not going to talk his way out of this, Courage hunched over and got into a fighting stance. He held out his baseball bat in a ready position. Misty was surprised by this aggressive move but acted accordingly by firing her arrow. Using some martial arts skills Courage had learned in China, Courage swung his bat and struck the arrow in mid air causing the arrow to brake in half. Misty then charged Courage, dropping her quiver of arrows along the way. Courage saw her coming and swung his bat but Misty expertly dodged the swing and then straitened up with a good uppercut to Courage's jaw. She then karate kicked the bat out of Courage's paw and then tried to punch Courage again but Courage easily blocked that attack with his paw. Then with the other paw, Courage aimed for Misty's abdomen but Misty saw it coming and dodged to the side. She then used that dodge by twirling on one leg and then gave Courage a round house kick to his head. Amazingly, despite what Courage had learned in China, Misty was a far more superior martial artist than Courage was.

Dazed by the kick in the head, Misty took this opportunity to grab Courage by both arms and then shoved him against the wall of the ravine. Courage tried to struggle free but Misty had a strength that rivaled his own. Misty held Courage with an iron clasp but Courage continued to struggle. Being this close and panting heavily, the two dogs got a whiff of each other's sent and suddenly, they noticed something very familiar about each other's sent. The two sniffed each other and discovered a unique characteristic about their sent that they hadn't noticed before. Amongst their many odors, they had one sent that was inherited by their ancestors and both dogs noticed that they had the exact same ancestral odor. Misty let go of Courage and the two dogs just stared at each other as the same conclusion came to their minds: they were siblings. A smile crossed Misty's face as she hugged Courage tightly and said, "Brother."


	4. Chapter 4

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 4

Misty held Courage tightly in a hug making it hard for Courage to breath.

"Misty, stop, I can't breath." gasped Courage. Misty let go of Courage. As she did so, she wiped a tear of joy from her eye.

"I'm sorry, bro." said Misty. "It's just that I'm so happy that I finally got to meet my big brother."

"Now hold on." said Courage in protest. "This can't be. I can't possibly be your big brother."

"Why not?" asked Misty as she walked over to pick up her quiver of arrows and her bow.

"Because I was an only child when my parents were launched into space." said Courage as he picked up the baseball bat he had dropped.

"But you have to be my big brother." said Misty. "We both have the same ancestral fragrance. That can't be faked, you know."

"But how could you be my sister when I never had a sister when I was a puppy?" asked Courage.

"Because Mom was pregnant before she was launched into space." said Misty.

"Really?" said Courage surprised. "But if she was, how come I didn't know about it?" The two dogs sat down on the grass.

"Well, what happened was that a few days before Mom and Dad where launched into space, Mom suspected that she was pregnant because of all those times she kept throwing up." said Misty. Courage thought back and realized he had no memory of his Mom having vomiting urges before she was launched into outer space. Despite his suspicions, he continued to listen to Misty's story.

"She arranged an appointment with the vet for a pregnancy test but on the day she was scheduled to take that test, you got your head caught in a fence." continued Misty. "Since Mom was already scheduled for a vet appointment, she and Dad brought you to the vet." Courage's eyes shot open as he remembered something.

"Wait a minute, I remember that." said Courage. "On the day my head got stuck in that fence, Mom mentioned that she had an appointment that day. I never once wondered why she had an appointment." Courage couldn't believe that idea never occurred to him before.

"Indeed, bro." said Misty. "Mom was going to have that pregnancy test that day. When the vet freed you from that fence, he gave you a lolly pop. While you were licking that lolly pop, the vet asked Mom and Dad into the next room for the pregnancy test. At least, that's what Mom and Dad told me."

"I remember that, although I was too busy on my lolly pop to pay any attention to what my parents and the vet where saying." said Courage. "I didn't hear a word they were saying."

"And what happened after that?" asked Misty. Courage breathed in a shaky breath. It always caused him pain to have to talk about how he lost his parents.

"I remember that I had followed my parents into the next room and that was when I saw that veterinarian carrying my parents away." said Courage. "He forced my parents into the rocket and I tried to save them but I ended up falling down a garbage chute and they were launched into space." There was a moment of silence as Courage's memories of that day came to him.

"So what happened after Mom and Dad was launched into space?" asked Courage. "Did they tell you?"

"Yes they did." said Misty. "After Mom and Dad were launched into space, they found themselves on this same alien planet which contained several other dogs who were sent here by the evil vet. Realizing that they're probably going to be trapped on this planet forever, Mom and Dad tried to make the best of their situation. However, life on the planet led to tough times for Mom because as time went on, the fact that she was pregnant became increasingly more obvious. Because of the lack of food on the planet, Mom was worried that she or me wouldn't get adequate nutrition to survive. With some encouragement from Dad and with the combined efforts of the other dogs, Mom lasted through the pregnancy and finally, I was born." There was a silence as Courage thought about all this.

"But where are all the other dogs?" asked Courage.

"A few months ago, there were these strange green aliens that attacked us and kidnapped the other dogs." said Misty. "Only I escaped capture. I discovered that the aliens were performing horrible experiments on the dogs so I went in to rescue Mom and Dad but..."

"Did you get them out?" asked Courage.

"Well, yes but..." said Misty.

"Take me too them." interrupted Courage. Misty looked into her brother's eyes and knew that he was anxious to see them.

"Alright." she finally said reluctantly. Misty picked up her bow and arrows, got up, and led Courage through the ravine. Courage was so excited to finally be able to see his parents again that he had butterflies in his stomach.

Courage followed closely behind Misty, swinging his baseball bat and feeling anxious all over. Misty led Courage out of the ravine and to a large green colored rock and said, "Here they are" in an unenthusiastic tone. Courage stared at the rock and was rather confused and annoyed.

"Uh, Misty, that's a rock." said Courage.

"Yeah, but what's written on the rock?" asked Misty but she said it in a way that sounded more like a challenge than a question. Courage was confused as to what she meant by that but did what he was told to do and when Courage looked closer at the rock, he realized that there was writing on it. As Courage bent over to get a closer look, he realized that the writing on the rock said, "Here lies Henry and Lily. R.I.P." When it finally registered to Courage what it was he was looking at, he began to shake his head as if he was wanting to deny it.

"Is that a grave?" asked Courage.

"Yes." said Misty as tears began to build up in her eyes. "I tried to save them but when I finally got out of the laboratories with our parents, they were already too far gone to save. I found them horribly mutilated and barely alive and they died once they were freed." Courage was barely listening to Misty. He no longer knew what to say or think. After years of waiting and hoping that he will find his parents, he finally realized that his dream will never happen. For years, he has been searching for a way to rescue his parents and yet after all that work, he only had arrived just to find out that he was too late. Courage had never felt so miserable in his life. He got down onto his knees, lied upon the stone, and cried. A rush of anger and sadness filled the little pink dog like hot air pumped into a balloon. He could barely, think feel, or even become aware of his surroundings. He was so miserable, he just cried uncontrollably. Out of his anger, he struck the rock as if he was mad at the rock. Although it hurt his paw, the pain was nothing compared to pain Courage felt all over.

The sight of watching her brother cry brought tears to Misty's eyes. She gently pulled Courage away from the stone and sat down next to him, crying along with him. When it looked like Courage had calmed down, Misty said, "I know how you feel. I had to bury my parents all by myself. I must have cried a whole week after that. Although they are dead, look on the bright side, you still have me." Courage pushed Misty off of him a little more harder than he meaned to.

"This is not what I wanted." said Courage. "I want my parents back. I wanted to be able to see them again."

"But Courage..." said Misty.

"Just get out of here." snapped Courage irritably. Misty was rather hurt by the comment. With a rather angry glare in her eyes, she said, "Fine, but bare in mind that I am still your little sister and the only biological family you have left." With that, she walked away, carrying the bow and quiver of arrows along with her. Courage made no response to Misty's comment as she left. Courage didn't even watch her walk away. He just sat there on the ground, watching the alien sun setting in the distance. Courage crawled up to the stone and said to it, "I'm so sorry, Mom and Dad. I've failed you once again." He picked up his baseball bat and headed back to his ship, leaving the grave of his Mom and Dad alone.

Little did Courage know that not too far away, hidden behind some bushes, a camera on top of a spider shaped robot was filming him walk away. From inside a screen, located in a room about a mile away two figures was watching Courage go by.

"[What is this pink creature?]" asked one figure in an alien language.

"[That is Courage, the dog I told you about.]" answered the other in the same language.

"[What must we do, my master?]" said the first figure.

"[Send some spies to study him.]" said the other. "[And make sure that he doesn't leave this planet]"

"[Right away, master.]" said the first figure and it left the room leaving his master behind. The other figure stayed to watch Courage walk away and in english, he said, "I have you now. You will not escape me this time, Courage."

_Author's Note: In the dream sequence at the beginning of Chapter 1, if you read carefully, you would notice that Lily does mention that she had an appointment that day. That scene was meant to offer a hint that she was pregnant but I guess no one figured it out. Oh and by the way, the reason why I didn't describe those two that were spying on Courage was just an attempt to put in a little suspense and mystery until you read the next chapter._


	5. Chapter 5

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 5

That night, Courage had another realistic dream, just like the others before, but this time, it took place on the alien planet he was on. In the dream, Courage saw his mom lying on the ground but something seemed to be wrong with her because her abdomen was larger than normal and she was breathing heavily. It was obvious what was going on: Lily was going into labor. Her legs were spread out and Henry was sitting in front of his wife making the delivery.

"That's it, Lily, you're doing fine, now push." said Henry. Lily took in a deep breath and pushed. All the other dogs that Lily and Henry were marooned with were standing around Lily, watching her give birth. Each one of them whispered words of encouragement to Lily.

"Push, Lily." said Henry. Lily breathed in and gave another push. The pain as well as her exhaustion was visible on her face.

"Don't give up, Lily." said Henry. "You're so close. Don't give up." Lily breathed in and gave in another push, putting in every last ounce of strength left in her. Instantly, it was all over. There was nothing but silence except for the sound of the crying new born.

Henry raised the little infant to his face. The puppy was small and covered in pink fur. She silently squealed and chirped in her father's arms. Tears of joy were in Henry's eyes as he admired the little puppy he held in his paws.

"Well?" asked a Dalmatian from the group of dogs.

"Well what?" asked Henry.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked the Dalmatian. Henry checked the puppy.

"It's a girl." said Henry. There was some excited whispers from the dogs. Henry walked over to his wife and gave the puppy to her. Lily looked into the eyes of the little infant and tears of joy filled her eyes but the smile on her face quickly faded.

"What's wrong, Lily?" asked Henry.

"I just wish our son was here to see her." said Lily.

"I know how you feel." said Henry sadly. "He would have been a good brother to her."

Courage woke up with the words of his father still ringing in his mind. From within the damaged space ship, Courage had been sleeping there in his sleeping bag that night. While still in his sleeping back, Courage sat up and stretched his arms into the air. Courage stared through the dim light of the ship, thinking about his dream. Courage was surprised by the dream and he wondered why he had that dream and why he had those other dreams as well.

"What are those dreams trying to tell me?" thought Courage. As Courage continued to stare at the walls of the ship, he realized how much Misty must have meant to not just his parents but to the other dogs as well. Each and everyone of them worked hard to keep her alive and raise her, possibly even giving up their own food rations for her sake. It must have been a happy moment for those dogs to see that all their hard work had paid off. As Courage thought about all this, he then realized that perhaps he was too hard on Misty and decided to apologize to her after breakfast, after all, it wasn't her fault that his parents died. Courage crawled out of his sleeping bag and pulled out a can of dog food from his back pack.

Meanwhile, Misty was busy fishing in the river located in the ravine. She was wearing her quiver of arrows on her shoulder and she had her bow strapped onto her other shoulder. In her paw was a long spear and she held the spear into the air like a statue. She watched the fish as they swam by in the shallow river. The fish, however, didn't look like fish seen on Earth because they were a foot long and they swam through the river like eels. They all had rainbow colored scales that sparkled in the morning sun light. Misty watched the unusual fish swim by and when one was within shot, Misty plunged the spear through one of the fish and lifted it into the air. The fish flapped around madly while it still remained squared by the spear. While it was still alive, Misty pulled the fish off the spear and placed it into a basket of fish at the shore. She had six fish in the basket and she was ready to carry them off so she could eat them.

Thirty minutes later, the fish had all been cooked and devoured by Misty and all that remained was a pit of ashes where a fire once stood, a pile of fish bones, and one stuffed dog sitting right next to all of it. Misty burped loudly.

"Man, I sure out done myself." said Misty. Suddenly, she heard the sound of movement nearby. At first, she thought it was Courage but she quickly realized that it couldn't have been him because the sound sounded like multiple feet. Curious, Misty climbed the side of the ravine while carrying her bow and arrows and peaked over the side of the ravine. She gasped as she noticed several large quadruped and small bipedal creatures heading towards Courage's ship in the distance. They were too far away to make out but judging from how they reflected the light and how they were silver colored, Misty could tell that they were robots. Misty knew from experience that robots mean bad news so she had to find Courage and warn him. She hoisted herself onto the ledge and sprinted towards Courage's ship.

Back on the ship, Courage was cleaning up his dishes when his super sensitive ears heard the sound of something mechanical moving towards the ship. Courage picked up his baseball bat and opened the door to see outside. He gasped in horror as he saw a herd of robots heading his way. The quadruped robots resembled elephants but they were moving faster than any elephant on Earth and instead of a trunk, tusks, and large floppy ears, the head of each of the robots had large sharp teeth lined up in a big mouth. There was also smaller bipedal robots accompanying the larger ones. They resembled the two legged robots from "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" but they were only four feet tall, had large robotic arms tipped with three fingered hands, and large cameras were mounted on their heads, possibly to enable them to see. There was at least a dozen bipedal robots and they were moving ahead of the larger robots and moving hastily towards Courage.

Courage screamed in horror as he watched the robots heading towards him. He ran out of the ship and started sprinting away. The two legged robots immediately pursued Courage and they were gaining fast. Courage ran until he ran past a pile of boulders and stopped when he heard someone say, "Courage, in here." Courage turned around and noticed Misty in front of a hole in the pile of boulders. Courage did as he was told and followed Misty into the hole. After squeezing himself into the hole, Courage quickly realized that the hole was dark and cramped making it hard for him to move. Courage couldn't see anything outside in the darkness but he could hear the robots outside, searching for him. Misty laid scrunched up along side Courage. The two dogs listened carefully, making sure not to make a sound. Courage was so afraid, he didn't noticed how long he had been stuck there but it felt like forever.

Finally, the sound of the robots leaving was heard and Courage and his sister crawled out of the rocky hole.

"What are those?" asked Courage.

"That was one of Dr. Stromwell's androids." said Misty. Courage gasped at the sound of the name.

"Stromwell, he's here?" asked Courage.

"Yes, he's here." said Misty. "Why? Do you know him?" Courage didn't answer. He just stood there staring in shock. He couldn't believe that he had never thought of this before. Stromwell was sent to this same planet and he must have been here ever since.

"Courage...?" said Misty when Courage didn't answer.

"Dr. Stromwell is here?" asked Courage.

"Yes." said Misty. "He crashed landed here about a year and a half ago and when he came here, he was kidnapped by the aliens. I don't know what happened between Stromwell and the aliens but at some point, the aliens started serving Stromwell. It was under his orders that the aliens had kidnapped the dogs and performed those experiments on them and our parents." Suddenly, an anger flooded Courage's body. Once again, Stromwell had taken his parents away from him and once again, Courage couldn't stop him. Courage began to turn red with anger and tears of sadness began to fill his eyes.

"Courage, what's wrong?" asked Misty as she noticed Courage becoming upset. Misty was about to say more but didn't get a chance because she and Courage had just noticed that one of the bipedal robots had found them again.

"Run." shouted Misty and she and Courage took off running with the robots following close behind. Even though both Courage and Misty were light on their feet (AN: That's an expression), the robots, none the less, were gaining fast and both dogs knew that they can't out run them for very long. Searching for something that could help him, Misty and Courage noticed that they were heading towards the ravine.

"Lets hide in the ravine." said Misty. The two dogs sprinted towards the ravine, putting in every ounce of strength they had. Courage reached the ravine first and with a mighty leap, he jumped off the edge and landed hard on the ground below. Misty, however, was not so lucky. Before she could reach the ravine, one of the robots grabbed her by the midsection with its two big claws.

"Hey, let go." said Misty as she tried to struggle out of the robot's grasp. Courage caught a glimpse of Misty as she was hauled away by the robots.

"Courage, help me." shouted Misty. Courage climbed the side of the ravine so could peaked over the side. Upon reaching the top, he saw Misty being carried away by the robots and was being brought to one of the larger quadruped robots. Misty shot a few arrows at the robot that held her but the arrows simply bounced off the robot. Eventually, her quiver of arrows was removed from Misty's shoulder and her bow was also taken. Misty was thrown into the mouth of one of the bipedal robots and the robot swallowed Misty in one gulp. The sides of the robot then opened up revealing a cage where Misty had been dumped into after being swallowed. Misty grabbed onto the bars of the cage and looked out in fear as the robots began to take her away. Misty sat in that empty cage, wondering where the robots were taking her.

Courage watched in fear as the robots walked off with his sister. It was against Courage's kind nature to just sit back and allow Misty to endure a possibly horrible fate, so he followed the robots stealthily while holding his baseball bat in one paw, ready to use it when necessary. Courage's heart pounded with nervousness and tension as he followed the robots because he feared what may happen if he was spotted. The robots led Courage to a large fortress that looked like a huge step ladder pyramid but it was made out of metals and stones and it was as tall as a small mountain. Courage was amazed at how high the building stretched but he didn't have much time to admire its shear size. He turned his focus back to Misty and the robots but they had already gone inside through a large door that looked like a garage door. In order for Courage to find a way in, he examined the fortress, looking for an inconspicuous entrance. After circling the building a few times, he found what looked to be an air vent. Courage carefully climbed up the smooth surface of the wall and carefully ripped the vent off after reaching it. Courage then crawled into the air vent and as quietly as he could, he crawled through the building. As he crawled through the ventilation shaft, he looked out through the vents he came across and noticed not only androids in the building, but also aliens. The aliens were no more taller than Courage was and they were covered in green slippery and slimy looking skin. They all walked hunched over like primates and they had huge pointy ears that made them look like freakish gremlins. They all had small and thin legs that supported huge muscular chests and arms. All of the aliens spoke a language Courage had never heard before, possibly the race's own native tongue.

Courage crawled through the air ventilation shaft, peaking through vents in hopes of finding Misty or some clue as to how to find her. Courage's knees ached in pain and his back hurt from all the crawling. Courage was about to stop for rest until he noticed something pink through a nearby vent. Courage crawled over to the vent and to his relief, he saw Misty in the room. She was locked inside a metal cage and she appeared to be unguarded. Courage quickly kicked the vent off the wall, causing the vent to clatter loudly onto the ground. Misty was surprised by the sudden noise but was relieved when she noticed Courage climbing out of the vent.

"Courage, you've come to save me." said Misty.

"Are you all right?" asked Courage as he ran to her side.

"Yes, I'm fine." said Misty. "You're going to have to get the keys, they're hanging right there by the door." Misty was about to point out where the keys were but she instead gasped in horror when she noticed what was behind Courage.

"What's wrong, Misty?" asked Courage.

"Courage, so nice of you to join us." said a familiar and unfamiliar voice behind Courage. Courage spun around and grasped his bat with both paws, expecting a fight. Near the only exit to the room was four aliens, all of them were aiming laser weapons at Courage. Standing between the aliens was one humanoid figure who was covered in the same green skin as the aliens. He had rows upon rows of long yellow teeth and had a white mustache. He had long pointy ears and wore a white lab coat and white paints.

"Courage, long time no see." said the humanoid alien.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" demanded Courage.

"Why Courage, don't you recognize me?" said the alien.

"You can understand me?" asked Courage in surprise.

"Why yes I can." said the alien. "It's a new power of mine."

"Just who are you?" demanded Courage. "I've never seen you before."

"Oh but you have." said the alien. "I am Dr. Stromwell." Courage gasped in horror as he recognized the freakish creature before him which was an altered version of the veterinarian who had sent his parents into outer space.


	6. Chapter 6

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 6

"Dr. Stromwell?" said Courage. "But you look so different."

"Indeed I do, Courage." said Dr. Stromwell. "When I was kidnapped by the goragons, which are these aliens here," Dr. Stromwell pointed to the aliens beside him to emphasize who the goragons were, "they took me to their laboratories and for a while, I was their lab rat, hypothetically speaking. They tortured me and performed experiments on my DNA. Using the DNA from their species, they tried to mutate me into a hybrid of their species but the DNA had a more greater affect than they thought. I became a powerful mutant, fused with the DNA of a human and the DNA of a goragon. The mutation gave me extraordinary powers, such as the ability to understand foreign languages, including the language of dogs and the goragons. When I showed them how powerful I was and how intelligent I was, the goragons accepted me as their leader and they have been working for me ever since."

"You killed my parents, you monster." blurted out Courage in rage.

"I probably have." said Dr. Stromwell with a casual voice that made Courage's blood boil in rage. "For you see, I've been experimenting with genetics myself. I've been working on ways of building my own army by mutating living creatures using the same science that mutated me but I needed test subjects for the experiments in order to see if my theories would work. I kidnapped your parents and the other dogs and I experimented on them. Unfortunately, neither one of the dogs survived the experiments but since then, I've been perfecting the procedure and once it works, I will then find a way to go back to Earth and mutate every human on Earth into a mutation that is programed to obey my every command. Everyone in the world will be my slaves and no one will stop me." Dr. Stromwell laughed evilly.

"You're sick." said Courage.

"Sick, am I?" said Dr. Stromwell. "Perhaps when you experience my brilliance first hand, you will see it my way."

"What do you mean?" asked Courage.

"I'm going to put you and that female dog into my lab and I will test my mutation experiments on the two of you." said Dr. Stromwell. "You two will either died a slow and painful death or become my slaves forever."

"You will not harm me or my sister." said Courage.

"This is your sister?" asked Dr. Stromwell. "Excellent, you get to die with family at your side. Too bad that your parents wont join you."

The remark that Dr. Stromwell had made was the final breaking point for Courage. With a scream of rage, Courage ran towards Stromwell, holding his bat high in the air. Dr. Stromwell didn't even react as Courage charged him with the bat. With a nasty looking grin, Dr. Stromwell flung his mutated arm and struck Courage hard in the chest. The blow knocked Courage onto his back and he skidded across the floor.

"Don't even think about it, Courage." said Dr. Stromwell. "I'm much more tougher than you." Courage gritted his teeth in anger. He quickly got onto his feet and charged Dr. Stromwell, baseball bat raised high. Dr. Stromwell saw Courage heading in his direction and he was preparing to strike Courage again but Courage dropped to the ground and slid under the swing. Using the force of the momentum, Courage kicked Dr. Stromwell in the legs, causing Stromwell to topple forwards but instead of landing face down on the ground, Stromwell spread out his arms and landed on his open palms. With great agility, he flipped himself into the air in a summersault and landed on the ground. Courage also got onto his feet, ready for another strike. The other goragons who had accompanied Dr. Stromwell were cheering at the sight of Dr. Stromwell's agility as if they were watching a show.

"Enough games." said Dr. Stromwell. "Time for some real action." Dr. Stromwell took in a deep breath and unleashed a ball of fire from his mouth. Courage tried to strike the fire with his bat like a baseball but when the fire struck the bat, it immediately caught on fire. Courage dropped the bat in surprise. Dr. Stromwell then took this opportunity to bull rush Courage, knocking him onto the ground. Before Courage could get back onto his feet, Stromwell grabbed Courage by the neck and lifted him off the ground by his neck. Misty gasped in horror as Stromwell ran up to a nearby wall and smashed Courage against the wall. Courage tried to struggle free but Stromwell held Courage against the wall by his neck. Courage gasped for breath as he tried to struggle free from Stromwell. Despite Courage's strength, he couldn't break free from Stromwell's grasp. Courage was beginning to feel light headed from the lack of air.

"Let him go, please." pleaded Misty from her cage.

"As you wish." said Dr. Stromwell mockingly. He threw Courage across the room and Courage struck hard against the bars of Misty's cage. The blow and the lack of air rendered Courage too weak to move. Dr. Stromwell calmly pulled out a set of keys as he walked over to Courage. While Courage remained barely conscious, Dr. Stromwell picked him up upside-down by one leg. Stromwell placed the key into a key slot on the cage door, opened up the door, and threw Courage inside. Dr. Stromwell locked the cage door and said to Misty, "I'm going to prepare my equipment. Once it is ready, you and Courage will be used as the test subjects to see if this new invention of mine will work. Don't worry, your suffering will be brief." Dr. Stromwell laughed maniacally and he and the other goragons left the room leaving Misty inside the cage with Courage

Once Stromwell was gone, Misty frantically shook Courage in an attempt to wake him up.

"Courage, please wake up." said Misty. Courage groaned in pain. He opened his eyes and as his vision came to, he saw Misty looking over him.

"Courage, are you all right?" asked Misty out of concern.

"Yeah, but my head hurts." said Courage. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head in pain. Upon realizing that he was now locked in the cage, he sat down and leaned against the cage bars.

"I guess this is it." said Courage. "We're going to die." Misty let out a shaky sigh as she too realized the hopelessness of the situation. She sat down next to Courage and asked him, "Why did you come to rescue me?"

"Well, I couldn't just sit there and let you die." said Courage.

"Is that really the only reason why you came to save me?" asked Misty.

"Well..." said Courage nervously.

"It's because you cared, that is why you came and tried to rescue me." said Misty. Courage was rather surprised by the statement.

"What? No way." said Courage. "I don't even know you."

"Even so, you do know that I am your little sisters and that is the most important thing." said Misty.

"But I never wanted a sister." protested Courage. "I wanted my parents back. I missed them so much since the day they were launched into outer space. You wouldn't even know the pain I went through because you got to know them much longer than I did and I barely got to know them at all. I came here to search for my family..."

"...and you found her." interrupted Misty. "I may not be your parents but I'm the next best thing. I'm your little sister and a sister who loves her brother very much." Courage sat in silence, thinking about what Misty had said. Inside, he knew that Misty was right. She was family and that's all that matters. When Courage gave no response to what she said, Misty could tell that she had gotten through to him. She then reached over, grabbed Courage's paw, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I do love you, Courage...as a sister, of-course." said Misty. "Don't I have your love as well?" Courage grinned shyly and gave Misty a squeeze of her paw.

"Of-course, sis." said Courage. "You're right. We're family and that's all that matters." Misty let go of Courage's paw and hugged Courage around the shoulder. Courage was rather surprised by the gesture but smiled and returned the hug.

When they let go of each other, Misty asked, "So how are we going to get out of here?"

"That part I'm still trying to work out." said Courage grimly.

"Well, don't worry, Courage." reassured Misty. "I know that we will find a way out of here." There was a moment of silence as a thought came to Misty. "Hey Courage, after we escape, what do you want to do about getting back home?"

"Well, I can't fly back to Earth because the ship is damaged so my only ticket back home is to wait for someone to answer my distress call that is being sent by the S.O.S beacon." said Courage.

"Well, if you do get rescued, can I come to Earth with you?" asked Misty.

"Sure, why not." said Courage. "Hey, why don't you move in with me. I'm sure my humans wont mind."

"Really, that would be great." said Misty.

"Or at least Muriel wont mind." thought Courage to himself.

Suddenly, the doors to the room swung open and seven goragons came in. One was pushing a large wooden board with wheels underneath and metal handle bars for control the board's path of movement. The other six goragons were lined along side the rolling cart. The cart was moved in front of the cage allowing the six goragons to pick up the cage that Courage and Misty were still in and place it on top of the cart. The cart was then wheeled around and then pushed out the door. Misty and Courage held each other's paws in comfort, even though that both of them were afraid of what might happen to them.

The cage was wheeled into a laboratory where Dr. Stromwell and four other goragons were waiting. In the center of the room was a table that had four clamps on it, obviously used to hold a person's arms and legs in place. The table was connected by a crane and chains that were used to lift the table off the podium it sat on, victim and all. Next to the table was an artificial pond of some kind that was filled with a green colored fluid that bubbled like boiling water. As Mist and Courage stared at the bubbling acidic substance in the pond, Dr. Stromwell walked over to the cage with a sinister grin on his face. Using his keys, Dr. Stromwell unlocked the cage and grabbed Misty by her chest. He pulled her out of the cage, closed the door, and locked it before Courage could do anything to stop Stromwell. Misty tried to struggle out of Dr. Stromwell's grasp but Dr. Stromwell was too strong. He carried Misty to the table and with help from the goragons, they strapped Misty's arms and legs against the table. There was a podium nearby were the controls operating the table were. The goragon at the controls pushed a button and the chains that were attached to the table were reeled in by a large crane on the ceiling, lifting the table off the podium. The crane moved along a track on the ceiling thus moving Mist and the table across the room and over the pit of boiling green acid. Courage stared in horror as he realized that Dr. Stromwell was going to dip Misty into that acid like substance and the same conclusion came to Misty's mind because she was so afraid for her life that should could barely keep her breathing steady. Courage's heart bounded in his as his mind raced. He had to find some way out of this cage and fast if he was going to save Misty.


	7. Chapter 7

The Things I Do For Family

Chapter 7

As Misty dangled over the pit of acid, Dr. Stromwell pulled out a syringe from a nearby drawer. The syringe contained a lime green colored substance that emitted a soft glow. He walked over to Misty and said, "The substance in this pit is a highly dangerous acid that can burn flesh and mutate the cells. It is a horrible way to die if you were to be dipped into it. However, with an injection of this chemical, it should be able to spare her from that fate and instead mutate her into my own slave. Let the immunization begin." Dr. Stromwell raised his syringe and using his finger to guide the needle, Dr. Stromwell aimed for Misty's arm. Misty knew she couldn't resist so she turned her head away and closed her eyes out of fear. The needle of the syringe was about to enter Misty's arm when Courage shouted, "Stop." Dr. Stromwell and the goragons turned their heads towards Courage.

"Please, spare her, take me instead." pleaded Courage. Dr. Stromwell glared at Courage.

"You're not in the position to demand anything." said Dr. Stromwell.

"But you only need one test subject to see if your experiment will work." said Courage. "Please, take me instead." Dr. Stromwell thought to himself and then an evil grin crossed his face.

"Okay then, I will spare Misty and instead take you." said Dr. Stromwell. Courage wasn't foolish enough to believe that Dr. Stromwell would keep his end of the bargain but Courage had a plan. It was a wild and a desperate plan but it was the only one Courage had.

Dr. Stromwell walked over to Courage's cage and pulled out his keys. He unlocked the door and reached inside the cage but before he could grab Courage, Courage immediately bit down hard on Dr. Stromwell's hand. Courage than made a mad dash out of the cage but as he dove out of the cage, he also grabbed the set of keys that Dr. Stromwell was holding in his other hand. Courage bolted towards Misty with Stromwell's keys in one paw.

"Bega lom." shouted Dr. Stromwell which, in the goragon language, means "Stop him." The goragons all began to surround Courage but thanks to Courage's strength and agility, he effortlessly leaped over the goragons and continued to run towards Misty. Dr. Stromwell noticed that the goragon at the controls was still there, so he shouted, "Fora om enk el fet" which is goragon for "Drop her into the acid." Obeying orders, the goragon at the controls pushed a button and immediately, the table that Misty was strapped to plummeted towards the acid. Misty screamed in terror as she fell but Courage was close enough to leap into the air and shove the table out of the way before it hit the acid. Instead of hitting the acid, both Courage and Misty landed right next to the pit. Quickly, Courage used the keys he stole from Stromwell to unlock the restraint on Misty's right arm. Once her arm was freed, Courage was about to unlock the other restraints when he noticed that the goragons were heading towards him fast. Courage quickly shoved the keys into Misty's paw so she could finish unlocking herself.

In the meantime, Courage decided to defend his sister from the goragons. There were too many goragons for Courage to handle but none the less, he fought them off valiantly using all his hand-to-hand combat skills he had learned in China. But despite his strength and skill, Courage was repeatedly struck by the multiple attacks of the goragons at once, causing him to grow weaker and weaker. But Courage's valiant efforts to save his sister was not in vain because Misty had finished unlocking her shackles and she dove towards the goragons to help with the fight. Immediately, Misty struck one of the goragons in an uppercut and the goragon was flung through the air by the blow. He struck the side of the wall hard, rendering him dazed by the blow. Misty then dropped to the ground and using her legs, she knocked a nearby goragon to the ground. She then picked up the goragon and threw it at another goragon who was heading towards her. The fight became more easier for Courage once his sister joined in to help. She was fighting the goragons with a strength and agility that was superior to Courage's. She took down those goragons with a series of round house kicks, punches, karate chops, and other moves you would normally see in karate movies. With her brother's help, Misty fought off the goragons until they all laid haphazardly all over the floor, leaving only the two pink dogs in the middle and capable of admiring their handy work.

Dr. Stromwell, who had been watching the whole fight, just stood there, glaring at the two dogs. Both Courage and Misty were sweaty and bruised but they still looked threatening.

"You think you two are so tuff, do you?" said Dr. Stromwell. "You may have defeated my goragons but I'm still here. Let's see if you got what it takes." Both Misty and Courage charged towards Dr. Stromwell but Dr. Stromwell attempted to stop them by unleashing a fire ball from his mouth. Misty and Courage both jumped out of the way of the fire ball and the ball hit the smooth tiles of the laboratory and extinguished. Courage and Misty wasted no time in leaping towards Dr. Stromwell, grabbing onto both his arms and knocking him onto his back. Dr. Stromwell fought back by thrusting his arms together as if he was clapping and he struck the two dogs together in the head.

"Ouch." chorus Misty and Courage as they bumped heads. Stromwell was about to bump the two dogs together again but the dogs quickly rotated their bodies around Dr. Stromwell's arms so that when Stromwell tried to smash them together, the two dogs instead landed on the bottoms of their feet as if they were both standing on both sides of an invisible wall. Exerting as much strength as they could, Misty and Courage both pushed off each other, forcing Dr. Stromwell's arms apart. Once Courage and Misty were on the ground again, they each held onto Stromwell's arms as they ran towards Stromwell's head. Once they were side by side again, the two dogs began to twirl in place, causing Stromwell to be lifted off the ground by the centrifugal force caused by being spun around like that. Courage and Misty continued to spin around faster and faster until Courage shouted "Now" and the two dogs released their grip on Stromwell and he was tossed into a wall.

Courage and Misty gave each other a high five in celebration of how they managed to over power Stromwell. Before Stromwell could get back onto his feet, Courage and Misty charged at Stromwell and they began to repeatedly start karate kicking and punching Stromwell. As they fought, Stromwell proved to be tougher than the goragons because he displayed a great amount of agility and strength that easily rivaled Misty's and Courage's abilities, not to mention the fact that Stromwell's fire breathing ability was also fairly tuff to beat. Yet despite their weakened state from fighting the goragons, Misty and Courage held up strongly against Stromwell. However, Courage was not as good at combat as Misty was so Courage was taking the most damage. Courage was beginning to become a little dizzy from all those blows to the head. This left Courage vulnerable as Stromwell struck both Courage and Misty hard with both arms at once causing the two dogs to be tossed into the air. Courage landed hard against a small table that had a tray of tools on top of it causing the tray and its contents to spill out on the floor. Courage then fell off the table and landed hard on the floor, leaving him dazed and barely alert. Misty had landed on the floor a few yards away from Courage.

When Stromwell realized how vulnerable Courage was at the moment, he grinned evilly at his opportunity. From his mouth, he fired a fire ball and the fiery little ball was flying towards Courage. Misty saw the attack and ran towards Courage in order to save him. She noticed the spilt tray on the ground and thinking fast, she picked up the tray and struck the fire ball with the tray. The fire ball ricocheted off the tray and struck Stromwell in the chest, causing his lab coat to catch on fire. In a panic, Dr. Stromwell swatted at the flames in an attempt to put it out. In his panic, he started to walk backwards, unaware that the acid pit was right behind him. He fell backwards into the acid and landed in with a big splash.

Courage opened his eyes in time to watch Stromwell fall into the pit. His sister was at his side, making sure that he was all right. After a brief moment of silence, Dr. Stromwell bursted out of the acid pool, emitting a monstrous scream, but he didn't look the same. The genetic altering powers of the acid was destroying Stromwell's body, causing his flesh and cloths to melt off. He splashed around in that pool as if he was fighting off something that was pulling him down, screaming an inhuman howl all the while. The two dogs watched in horror as right before their eyes, Dr. Stromwell's flesh was melting off his bones. His skin was blackish-green and his flesh dissolved away causing Stromwell to become thinner and thinner. Eventually, Dr. Stromwell managed to crawl out of the acid bath and when he did, he looked like a walking skeleton with green skin stretched over bones and wearing torn clothing. Both Misty and Courage screamed in horror when they saw the morbid sight of Stromwell's altered body. What remained of Stromwell slowly walked towards Courage and Misty, dragging its feet and raising his arms forwards like a zombie. Misty and Courage both backed away from the zombie of Stromwell as it walked closer but it only took a few steps before Stromwell fell forwards, landing on his front, and there he remained, motionless.

Misty and Courage walked to the body that lay on the ground. Their canine sixth sense told Misty and Courage that Stromwell was indeed dead.

"That was a horrible way to die, even for Stromwell." said Misty. Courage, on the other hand, was rather happy that Stromwell got what he deserved. To have him suffer the same horrible death he had inflicted on Courage's parents and many other dogs. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Misty said, "We better get out of here before the goragons find out what happened."

"You're right, we got to get out of here." said Courage.

"But how are we going to get out of here without being seen by the goragons?" asked Misty. Courage put his paw to his chin as he thought to himself. He observed the lab and noticed an air vent.

"We can escape through that air vent." said Courage.

"Good idea, Courage." said Misty. The two of them ran to the vent but it was too high for them to reach. They quickly found two chairs and they stacked the chairs on each other in front of the vent in order to give them leverage. Courage climbed to the top of the stack of chairs. He tried to reach the vent but he was too short.

"I can't reach it." said Courage. After thinking for a moment, Misty got an idea. She backed up from Courage, started running towards him, did a few back flips, and then leaped into the air and, like a gymnast, she landed squarely on Courage's shoulders. Courage let out a gasp of air out of surprise of having Misty land on his shoulder. Misty, while standing on Courage, was now capable of reaching the air vent. She carefully unscrewed the screws and then removed the vent. She then climbed into the vent and then helped Courage inside the vent. The two dogs crawled through the maze of air vents until they finally found the vent that Courage had entered the building with. Once out in the open, Courage and his sister ran off together, back to Courage's ship.

With nothing to do but sit around and wait for help to answer their distress call, Courage and Misty sat next to the ship, swapping stories about their lives. The two laughed at each other's misfortunes, even after the sun went down and the stars shown brightly in the sky. It was when the stars came out that Misty said, "Courage, I just want to say, thanks, for saving my life back there. When I was falling towards that acid, I thought I was a goner for sure."

"Well you saved my life back there when you knocked that fire ball away from me." pointed out Courage.

"Hey, what good are brothers and sisters for if they can't save your life now and then." said Misty.

"I guess you're right." said Courage with a laugh. "But there is something I still can't figure out. Where did you learn how to fight like that?"

"Oh, well, there was a Dalmatian named Charlie who had an owner who was a black belt and a master in different forms of martial arts." explained Misty. "I became interested and he ended up teaching me how to fight. I was a natural." Misty displayed her talent by throwing a few punches into the air. Courage giggled at the display.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted when they saw a bright light in the sky. The two dogs looked up in astonishment when they saw a dome shaped ship beginning to descend towards the ground. Both Courage and Misty watched fearfully as the ship landed next to the ruins of Courage's space ship. The door to the ship opened and a platform extended from the entrance, creating a metal ramp with which to walk across. From the entrance of the ship, three green colored ducks stepped out into the open.

"Why, that's the Duck Brothers." said Courage. Indeed, it was the Duck Brothers and they hadn't changed a bit since Courage had last seen them. "Guys, over here." The duck brothers turned their heads towards Courage and noticed him next to the ship.

"Why Courage, I didn't expect to find you here." said the red eyed duck.

"We received your distress signal and we came over to help." explained the green eyed duck.

"Yes, we could use the help." said Courage.

"We?" asked the blue eyed duck. He and his brother's gazes turned to Misty who stood behind Courage, waving shyly.

"Oh, guys, this is my little sister, Misty." said Courage introducing Misty.

"Sister, huh." said the green eyed duck. "I thought you were an only child."

"I thought so too but apparently I was wrong." said Courage. "So can you guys help us get back to Earth? Our ship is badly damaged and we don't have any other way home."

"Why certainly." said the red eyed duck.

"Great, just let be get my supplies." said Courage.

Courage had went back into the ship and packed up all his supplies into the back pack. Once he was finished packing, Courage and Misty boarded the ship immediately since Misty had nothing of value to take along. Once on board, the ship flew towards Earth. The trip lasted over night and along the way, Courage and Misty had to endure the constant complaining between the Duck Brothers. But it was finally over when the ship came to Earth. The Duck Brothers located Muriel and Eustace's farm house and they gently landed the ship on the ground near the house. The Duck Brothers were at the controls and Courage and Misty were watching anxiously behind them. The large viewing screen showed the ship landing softly on the ground, creating a soft bump as it landed.

"Okay, we're here." said the green eyed duck.

"We will open the door for you." said the blue eyed duck.

"Thanks for your help." said Courage.

"Yeah, thanks." said Misty. Courage put on his back pack and left the ship with his sister by his side. They turned around in time to see the Duck Brothers' ship fly off into the sky. Courage and Misty waved "good-bye" as the ship disappeared into outer space.

"So this is Earth." said Misty as she studied the land around her. It was apparently the evening because the sun was setting in the distance, causing the sky to turn orange. Just then, Courage noticed Muriel step out of the house. She apparently heard the noise of the space ship and had gone out to see what had happened. She noticed Courage and with joy she walked over to him. Courage took off his back pack and ran over to hug Muriel around her legs.

"Well hello, Courage." greeted Muriel. "Did you have a nice time during your vacation?" She then noticed Misty and asked, "Courage, who is this?" Misty and Courage both knew that Misty couldn't just tell Muriel who she was because the dog language cannot be understood by humans. But Misty had an idea. Using her foot, she wrote the name "Misty" into the dirt.

"Misty?" said Muriel. "Is that your name?" Misty nodded her head indicating "yes." "Well, Misty, are you a new friend of Courage?" Misty shook her head indicating "no." Under the name she had written, Misty wrote the word "sister."

"Sister?" said Muriel. "Oh, you're Courage's sister. How lovely it is to have a sibling. Where are you from?" Misty just stared glumly, not sure what to do.

"Don't you have a home?" asked Muriel. Misty shook her head indicating "no."

"Oh, you're a stray." said Muriel sympathetically. Muriel put a hand to her chin in thought. She then picked up Courage and Misty into her arms and said, "Well, I can't let Courage's own sister stay out in the cold. I'm sure Misty can stay with us. You will like that, won't you, Courage?" Courage nodded his head in excitement. Misty was also excited as well. Muriel carried the two dogs to the farm house using both arms. Although the back pack was left behind, Courage was more preoccupied on the thought of finally being able to be with his sister all the time and he was also wondering how Eustace would take the idea of having another dog in the family.

So that was how Misty and Courage ended up living together. True, Misty did annoy Courage every now and then but aren't all little sisters supposed to be annoying? And despite the major changes to Courage's life style because of having another dog in the house, Courage is rather happy to be having his sister nearby. Infact, she's the only thing that makes the loss of Henry and Lily tolerable for Courage. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Misty. As Courage had expected, Eustace reacted negatively with the idea of Misty living in the house but as usual, Muriel got her way again and Eustace was forced to just tolerate having Misty around. Although Courage had only known Misty for a short time, it still felt like they had known each other all their lives. After all, they were family, brother and sister, and that will never change.

**The End**

_Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten._

_-Quote by Lilo from the Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch."_

_Author's Note: I thought I would end the story with this quote since it reflects the theme of the story. If you want to see more of Courage and his little sister, Misty, you can check out another story I wrote called "Katz Health Club." This story will explain what life with a little sister is like for Courage so don't miss it._


End file.
